Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Have A Business Need? NJBAC Can Help.

The NJBAC is offering no-cost technical assistance, training, and problem-solving – we are here to support all of your Business Enhancement needs. Whether you have a one-off resource question, are looking for a strategic assessment of a district, or could use some quick visualized tactical inspiration to foster visible and tangible change, NJBAC can help. Contact NJBAC Assistant Director Jef Buehler to start the conversation and move towards action.

Today’s email has information on assistance we can provide, as well as about technical and financial resources that may be a fit for your community or district. Please feel free to share this information with other officials, district management stakeholders, and businesses. To see all prior Business Enhancement Connection emails, click here!

Best Practices

Getting Long-Term Benefits from Big Events: Running large events can be exciting and exhausting, using significant staff and volunteer resources, time, and energy. We have to be sure that our events make sense, hit our market, and create lasting impact, especially the big ones! Practice of Place has a good summary of how to think about large district or community events, focused on the “Why” we do them. Check out the article here: From Once a Year to Every Day: Creating Long Term Vitality From Big Events. And as NJBAC’s Business Enhancement Services always recommends, doing more frequent and smaller activations is a key part of any event strategy: A Hierarchy for Habits: Experience & Event Strategy for Activation

Missing Middle Housing Webinar: Wondering how to add housing options to your community that help enhance quality of life across all generations and income levels? Allowing for and encouraging the “missing middle” of housing types can make that happen. Towns and cities around the US are starting to realize that outdated restrictive residential zoning that does not allow for adaptive change is lessening the resilience and vibrancy of communities and they are doing something about it by fostering living options that are neither single family homes nor large apartment buildings. This free webinar on April 29^th explores what filling in the “missing middle” can look like, why to do it, and how to make it happen:  Missing Middle Housing - Webinar Registration

Community Garden Tools & Templates: This free, 32-page, photo- and information-filled publication by the AARP can help elected officials, government staff, nonprofit organizations and neighbors in all sorts of places build and sustain community gardens as inclusive, intergenerational outdoor spaces: Creating Community Gardens for People of All Age - Download & Order Options. Additionally, there is a set of 12 worksheets to help anyone set up their garden in an organized and effective fashion, as well as to help you apply for grants by mapping everything out in advance. Here are the worksheets in English: Creating Community Gardens for People of All Ages - Worksheets Collection and also in Spanish: Huertos comunitarios para personas de todas las edades - las hojas de trabajo.

Resource for Growth Comes to Bergen County: Access mentoring, financial, and technical support for your communities’ or districts’ businesses at a Resources for Growth (RFG) event at Bergen Community College on April 30, 2025, run by NJBAC. More than 40 exhibitors will offer detailed information on a wealth of resources and programs designed to boost your businesses’ growth.  Share the word with your businesses to register online here.  RFG rotates around the state: There are RFG events being planned in Middlesex County in July, as well as in Monmouth County in September. Stay tuned for updates!

Featured Grants & Support

Route 80 Business Assistance Grant Program Launches on 4/22: NJEDA’s Route 80 Business Assistance Grant Program will provide short-term financial support for small and medium (up to 50 employees) businesses (for- and non-profit) in Morris County located within a 5 mile radius of Exit 34 affected by the Route 80 closures.  Grants will range between $1,000 and $15,000.  Applicants must certify a negative financial impact of at least $1,000 for the first quarter of 2025 and must have physical commercial location in Morris County, New Jersey (e.g., an office, a physical point of sales, a warehouse, manufacturing facility, etc.)​ Applicants must be registered to do business in the State of New Jersey at the time of application, as evidenced by a valid Business Registration Certificate. The application will be live online on April 22^nd, here.

NJBAC Can Work With All the Businesses in Your Community

We are here to support your communities’ and districts’ businesses. NJBAC offers free online chat and telephone (800-537-7397) assistance in English and Spanish to any business in NJ – any size, any location, and any type. Businesses can always download the NJBAC Small Business Manual – a one-stop tool for many business concerns – online here. A Spanish version of the manual is also available here. Individual businesses or organizations can order a printed English copy as well by clicking this link or the Spanish version by clicking this link. For bulk orders of up to 25 printed copies in any language, please contact NJBAC’s Tracy Thomas directly.

Our NJBAC team can advocate for businesses, concierge them to funding and technical solutions, help them find locations for growth or developing export markets, guide them to navigating the commercial cannabis sector, and much more. Want to set something up online or on-site for your businesses? Reach out to NJBAC Assistant Director Jef Buehler to get plugged in to all of our business success services.

NJBAC’s Business Enhancement Services is online:  Now you can refer to Business Enhancement Services directly online with just a click!  Please favorite the website – it will be expanding over time as we add new resources and tools that support municipal and district revitalization and place-based business enhancement.